


Doubt

by OlegGunnarsson



Series: The Nexus is Leaking [1]
Category: Heroes of the Storm (Video Game), Overwatch (Video Game), StarCraft, Warcraft - All Media Types
Genre: Dreams and Nightmares, Gen, Hanzstrasza, Headcanon, Tea, The Nexus is Leaking, Therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-13
Updated: 2017-11-13
Packaged: 2019-02-01 20:25:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12712329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OlegGunnarsson/pseuds/OlegGunnarsson
Summary: The nightmare bothered Ana Amari. She did not know why she was dreaming about futuristic soldiers or wars or some place called the nexus...





	Doubt

Dr. Angela Ziegler returned to her desk with two cups of tea, setting one down for her visitor and keeping the other for herself. Then she walked slowly toward her chair, allowing the moment to stretch. 

The field medic in her knew that this wasn’t a crisis, that she had time to gather her thoughts. The surgeon in her agreed - one had to have a plan before making the first cut, taking the first step. But the reality was, Angela just didn’t know what to say. 

Taking her seat, she looked at her guest. “Why don’t you start from the beginning?”

Ana Amari took a sip of her tea. Smiling softly, she raised the cup in thanks. “I see Fareeha has shared her love of black tea with you, finally.” 

Mercy smiled back. “It took some convincing, true… but your daughter can be persuasive.” Her next words were spoken with kindness, but they were Doctor Ziegler’s, not Angela’s. “You are avoiding the subject, Ms. Amari.” 

With a sigh, Ana set the cup on the desk. Leaning back, she looked at the pictures on the wall. Dr. Ziegler’s office was lined with photos of teammates old and new, with certificates and diplomas and awards. A small medal hung in a display case in one corner - and one could be forgiven for thinking the medal of little consequence, when in reality it was one of Austria’s highest decorations for service above and beyond the call of duty. 

There was very little that Angela would not do for those in her care. For her friends and closest comrades, she would do almost anything. Including play at therapist for a steady and unshakable sniper who found herself doubting everything. 

Mercy let Ana take her time. When the older woman had approached her that morning, Angela had seen something in her friend’s eye that bothered her. Now that Ana was in her office, forced by custom and politeness to just sit still for a moment, it was clear. 

_ Doubt _ . 

“You know, dear,” began Ana. “I have been a soldier longer than you have been alive. I’ve seen many things, many troubling things. I’ve done them as well.” Now she turned her gaze back to Angela. “As you know.” 

Angela nodded, but said nothing. 

“Now that I am back with my family, with you all… well, it feels like coming home again.” Ana took another sip of tea before continuing. “For the first time in a long time, I’ve been… let’s say I’ve been comfortable with my orders, with my duties. I’ve slept well, and what little sleep I require has been untroubled by dreams.” 

“Until now.” 

Ana nodded. “Until now.” 

Angela leaned forward. “Ana, this is important. Can you remember your nightmare?” 

Her eye closed, and Ana began recounting her dream. 

 

\-----

 

_ The air was hot and dry, just like home. And there, on the horizon, she could see what looked like a pyramid or a temple of some sort.  _

_ She was in an enclosure, great stone walls before her. Orb-topped towers stood astride a large gate, and she knew somehow that these were watchtowers.  _

_ Soldiers marched forward to battle, and she felt like she had to go with them. She felt an urge to move forward, to take her position and hunt her enemy.  _

_ “Let’s go, darlin’!” she heard, as a soldier passed her on the right. He was in power armor, but she could not place the design. It was black, with a unit insignia of some sort on one shoulder.  _

_ She followed the soldier as he passed the gate. Ahead, she saw her soldiers clashing with the enemy. Along both sides of the path, there was no elevated position - no wall or structure from which to view the battlefield.  _

_ The soldier began firing at an approaching target - a big man in green armor with a dark helmet. His weapon seemed to spit lightning, and for a moment Ana was reminded of her friend Winston.  _

_ Shouldering her weapon, she sighted down the scope - and got a better look at the green soldier.  _

_ Green, he was. But armored, he was not. For the green she saw was his skin, and his dark helmet was intricately-braided dark hair, framing a broad, angry face. The… thing’s teeth were fangs or tusks or some combination. His weapon was not a lightning gun, but a hammer. As she watched, he pointed it at the black-armored soldier - and a bolt of lightning shot forth.  _

_ Acting without thought, Ana sent a healing dart at the soldier - supporting her force by instinct alone. “We need backup.” she said, almost to herself. She did not know where she was or what was happening, but she did not think the two of them could handle a magical lightning creature.  _

_ “I’m all over it.” a woman’s voice spoke in her ear, and now Ana realized that she was on comms. The voice had had an unusual sound to it, though, and Ana could not place it. She sounded American, but with an odd accent.  _

_ “Come on in, Sarah, they’re playing our song.” another voice replied, and Ana realized that it was the black-armored soldier. Ana sent a sleep dart at the creature, as the soldier crossed to his left. The dart struck true, and the creature stopped in its tracks for a moment.  _

_ That moment was enough. As Ana watched, spikes seemed to grow out of the ground, impaling the creature. It cried in rage, and sent a blaze of fire at her. More spikes, almost an entire claw, reached out of the ground and pinned the creature down. Ana rolled to her right to dodge the fire, and thus missed the creature’s bloody death.  _

_ When she got eyes on target again, Ana saw another soldier. This one was a woman, clad in dark red armor. On her back were two sets of claws, almost like wings, each tipped with what had to be a razor sharp blade. Her hair appeared at first glance like thick braids, but as Ana looked closer they seemed more like cords of flesh.  _

_ As the woman turned to her, Ana saw her eyes - glowing eyes that spoke of monstrous power. The woman put a clawed hand to her ear, and when Ana heard her speak over comms she gasped. For the voice was in her head as well.  _

_ “Well done, Ana.” _

 

\-----  
  


They sat quietly, letting the moment fade. Both women sipped their tea, not sure how to proceed. After a few minutes, Ana spoke first. 

“Is it possible, Angela, that I have become so numb to battle? That I would dream of leading nameless armies to fight monsters, only to realize that my team is just as monstrous?” Now she turned her eye to Angela. “Have I been doing this too long?” 

Angela shook her head. “It’s a dream, Ana. And I don’t think it’s a dream that means what you think it means.” At this, she turns to the cabinet behind her desk, pulling a sheet of paper from a drawer. 

“Hanzo came in here a week ago, asking for something to help him sleep.” Angela looks at the paper, considering how to proceed. 

Ana shook her head. “Hanzo has had nightmares for as long as I’ve known him. Many of them, he earned.” There was no overt disapproval there, but Angela knew how long it had taken Ana to trust the former assassin. 

“True enough,” Angela agreed. “And he accepted that. He said… well, actually, he said much the same as you did, when I asked him about it. He had filled his own pack, he said. I let it be - he checked out well, and hasn’t had any problems in the field. But I did tell him that my door was open.” 

“He never took me up on that, until last week. Hanzo said he was having dreams about a woman, and they were haunting him. He wanted them to stop.” Angela took the sketch and slid it across her desk. “Tuesday morning, he woke up in a rage. He said he was not ready, that he was not good enough, even after he beat her. He went on and on about dragons, and I thought he meant his own - I’ll never understand how he manipulates energy like that, but no one can deny that the dragons of his family’s tradition are at the core of his identity.”

Ana took the paper. On it was a sketch of a woman. She seemed quite beautiful - an ornate crown atop flowing hair. The woman’s eyes had no pupils, and her eyebrows were of insane length, but the overall effect was of regal beauty and calm assurance. Hanzo had written some text at the bottom of the page in his precise Japanese script. 

“When he calmed down,” Angela continued, “He said that the dragon had fallen in love with him. And that he was scared that he was falling in love with the dragon.” 

Ana looked at Angela in surprise. Angela nodded toward the script on the page. 

“I did not ask him to translate, nor would I bring this to his brother without asking. But I did make an attempt at a translation, with Athena’s help.” 

“Phonetically, it reads ‘ _ Alexstrasza, the Dragon Queen’ _ . I believe that is the woman’s name.” 

Ana looked at the sketch, then at Angela.  _ It’s not just me, then,  _ thought Ana. But then the analysis in her mind went to the next step - if it’s two of them, why not three?

“Who else, Angela?” 

Another sigh. “No one has had nightmares like the two of you. But there is one other case that may be related.” 

Ana leaned forward, now. “Tell me.” 

Angela turned again, and brought out another file. “Winston brought these to me yesterday. He and Hana had discussed improvements to her Mechs, and she came up with a few new designs. When he asked where she got the ideas, Hana replied that she had dreamed them up after a late night.” 

Ana began flipping through the schematics. The technical details were lost on her, but she could see that some of the design changes were radical ones. One of them traded the central boosters for larger shoulder-mounted units paired with what looked like missile batteries. That one was labelled  _ “Goliath mark II”.  _

Others were more cosmetic changes, new paint schemes and designs. As Ana turned to the last page, she caught her breath. There, on the page, was a black version of D.Va’s pink mech. The forward windscreen had what looked like a hand-painted skull, and the guns looked more fearsome for it. But on the side panel, she saw a unit insignia. The same one she had seen in her dream. 

Ana pointed at the Korean notations along the side of the page. “Any guess what this says?” Angela could hear the urgency in the older woman’s voice. 

“Winston told me. The label says  _ ‘Raynor’s Raiders’ _ , and the note at the bottom reads… hmm.” She paused, reading the note. “It says  _ ‘Sarah’s favorite - because it matches Jim, of course!’ _ and then she added one of her winking faces to the end.” 

Ana stared at Angela as she continued. “Winston figured these were from a video game or something. But after you told me your story, I thought the names sounded familiar.” She pointed at the insignia on the sketch. “You recognized that, I saw.” Ana could do nothing but nod. 

“So two of you dreamed about the same soldier, in armor you’d never seen, and both of you spoke to a woman named Sarah who knew that soldier.” Angela paused, looking closely at Ana. “Well, if it makes you feel better, you’re not going mad.” 

Ana reached for her tea, found that it had grown cold. No matter. “So what is happening then? Your official diagnosis, Doctor Ziegler, if you please?” This last was said with a soft smile, but Angela could hear the worry still present. 

“Ana.… I have no idea.”   
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Another prompt that went out of control. The Nexus exists outside of time, but eventually the lines must surely blur a little, right?
> 
> I might continue this headcanon with drabble here or there, mainly because Hanzstraza is fun to say. 
> 
> Feedback, as always, is welcome.


End file.
